Interactive health apps may uphold healthy lifestyle: Study reveals

U.S., March 1 -- According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the Pennsylvania State University and University of Connecticut, interactive health apps are more likely to encourage healthy lifestyle. The study researchers found that apps with good but controlled communication skills can be helpful for promoting healthier lifestyles.
For the study, the researchers enrolled 172 undergraduate students. The study subjects were assigned to one of six versions of a health risk assessment website. The sites were designed to have either low, medium, or high interactivity with either conversational or no conversational tone.
The findings of the study revealed that the study subjects who experienced a back-and-forth interaction with an online health risk assessment website were more likely to follow the health behaviours suggested by the tool.
Through the study, the researchers showed that when the online tools used short phrases such as "Mm-hmm" and "Go on" to promote casual and friendly tone, users felt less prone to their health risks.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Human Communication Research.